The present invention relates to a device for removing and retaining stoppers from a test tube or the like, more particularly such a device which enables the removal and storage of such stoppers without direct human contact.
To obtain a blood specimen from a patient, most hospitals or doctors' offices use a double-pointed needle, one end of which is inserted into the patient's vein, while the other end is inserted through a rubber stopper of a glass test tube commonly called a vacutainer. The rubber stopper is inserted into the test tube or vacutainer inside a vacuum chamber such that the interior of the vacutainer or test tube has a pressure lower than the ambient atmosphere. The rubber stopper has an upper part comprising a relatively thin rubber membrane that is thick enough to preserve the vacuum, but thin enough to be easily penetrated by the second side of the double-pointed needle. Once the second needle penetrates the stopper, the blood from the patient's vein will flow through the two needles and into the vacutainer.
Once a sufficient amount has been withdrawn, the vacutainer is removed from the second needle and usually forwarded to a laboratory wherein the tests on the blood are conducted. When the specimen containing vacutainers reach the laboratory, they are typically placed on a test tube rack and the stoppers removed by manually twisting them off, usually utilizing three fingers. Usually the amount of blood withdrawn from the patient is sufficient to contact the inner portion of the stopper during transportation of the vacutainer from the patient to the laboratory. Thus, there is a danger that the laboratory technician will come into contact with the blood sample during removal of the stopper from the vacutainer. Quite obviously, the blood may contain highly contagious and infectious viruses and any contact therewith should be avoided.
Various devices have been proposed to avoid direct physical contact when removing stopper from vacutainers or test tubes or the like. Generally, these devices comprise a rubber sleeve or some such similar structure which fits over the end of the test tube and enables the laboratory technician to grasp the stopper with the sleeve in order to remove it. However, these devices have not proven to be a complete solution to the problem, since the stopper must be subsequently removed from the rubber sleeve so that it may be disposed of. Again, this removal presents the opportunity for physical contact between the laboratory technician and the contaminated stopper. Other devices have been proposed, but none have resolved the problem of storing and disposing of the stopper once it has been removed from the test tube.